1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a current and/or voltage transformer comprising at least one primary circuit and one secondary circuit and more particularly to a transformer which, through its configurable character, can be used in several different electrical supplies.
As a function of the parameters of the supply (topology, input voltages, output voltages, chopping frequency etc.) the variable parameters of this transformer can be configured so as to tailor the xe2x80x9cstandardxe2x80x9d transformer to this specific application. These variable parameters are: the number of windings, the number of turns per winding and also their resistance. These latter are configurable over a range of discrete values depending on the design of tile transformer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Customarily, each supply has its specific transformer. The number of windings as well as the number of turns and the resistance value of each winding are determined so as to cater for the particular function. The transformer is totally unadaptable and consequently virtually dedicated to this supply. With each supply, a specific transformer must be designed, engineered and produced. The same is true for the inductor which is a particular case of the transformer.
The objective of this invention is to produce a xe2x80x9cstandardxe2x80x9d transformer which can be configured as a function of the parameters of the supply in which it is intended to be mounted.
The transformer according to the invention comprises m elementary windings each having Ni turns, i being an integer number lying between 1 and a predetermined integer number n, m and Ni being integer numbers, said elementary windings being capable of being associated in series and/or in parallel in such a way as to produce a particular configuration from among a plurality of distinct configurations of primary circuits and of secondary circuits, each of said configurations corresponding to previously fixed electrical and magnetic parameters.
Thus, during the design of a supply, the design of the transformer is replaced by a simple configuration of the xe2x80x9cstandardxe2x80x9d product. A single product is to be engineered and to be manufactured, thereby considerably reducing the cost of the magnetic components.
Preferably, said groups of elementary windings are constituted by a multilayer printed circuit block exhibiting a sandwich structure constituted by superposing a plurality of layers of copper arranged between two semi-ferrites forming the magnetic circuit of the transformer, said layers being separated by insulating layers.
According to a preferred characteristic of the invention, the electrical connections between the groups of elementary windings are etched on the printed circuit intended to receive the transformer.